Wetdown....what's the history?

[Guest]

Yesterday I attended a wetdown at the newly completed Williston,VT fire station, with 3 of my co-workers. On the way we were talking about wetdowns, but none of us knew what this tradition means or how it got started. Wetdowns aren't very common in northern Vermont, so I'm hoping someone can educate me about them.

[JBE 328]

It's almost like a baptism, or christening for a piece of apparatus.